Pets with allergies nothing to sneeze at
Podcast Episode
Dogs and cats are entering their own allergy season. The season lasts from late July through October and symptoms include redness of skin, hair loss, and scabby lesions. Kyle Geissler reports. You can read more in Monday's Janesville Gazette.
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Veterinarian Dan Heder looks at the skin around his dog Daisy’s eye for symptoms of allergies. Between 5 and 10 percent of dogs suffer from allergies.
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Veterinarian Dan Heder looks for allergy symptoms underneath Daisy, his Weimaraner, who has suffered from grass allergies, at the Edgerton Veterinary Clinic.
EDGERTON — Summer can be miserable for allergy sufferers.
And that includes pets.
"Seasonal allergies usually show mid- to end of July, worsen in August and September and resolve by late October," said Daniel Heder, a doctor of veterinary medicine at the Edgerton Veterinary Clinic.
Symptoms of allergies in pets include redness of the skin, hair loss and scabby lesions.
"The percentage of allergies in cats is low—2 or 3 percent—and a bit higher in dogs—between 5 and 10 percent," Heder said.
Although some breeds of dogs—Labrador retrievers, cocker spaniels and poodles—are more susceptible to allergies, dogs of any breed can be affected, he said.
"Some animals brought to us simply can't sleep and are licking and chewing at night so much they keep their owners awake," he said.
Although the number of pets with allergies hasn't significantly changed, Heder said vets are getting better at recognizing pets with allergies.
"The idea that every itching pet has allergies is wrong," Heder said. "There are a large number of things that can cause itchiness outside of allergies."
Treatment can include cool baths, over-the-counter medications such as Claritin or Zyrtec, medicated creams and immunotherapy.
Heder treats the allergies in his 10-year-old Weimaraner, Daisy, with antihistamines and cortisone during the worst part of the allergy season.
"It's rare we can't get a handle on the patient and have excellent therapy now that was not available 15 to 20 years ago," he said.
In more severe cases of pet allergies, Heder will refer animals and their owners to the UW Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Madison.
"If your dog didn't get or stay better," he said, "it may have a skin disease or something that is going to need to be treated for a very long time or for a lifetime."
Jul 23, 2009 at 8:31 a.m.
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Placebo, I am so not clicking on that link. Considering you keep posting it everywhere else, I can only imagine it's something bad, or something that will spam me for life. :)
Jul 22, 2009 at 6:28 p.m.
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This is a sensitive subject for me, I had to give up my best friend do to allergies. If you please watch this short clip of Walker Texas Ranger, it will show you how with loss comes love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5w4MkFo...
Jul 22, 2009 at 3:42 p.m.
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Ummm I don't think Katie actually wrote that and if she did, it really has nothing to do with the article. It looks like spam because why would anyone care about propecia and dogs? The gazette staff should remove that.
Jul 22, 2009 at 12:31 p.m.
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katie, there's lots of band aid fixes that keep surfacing over and over again. The source of the problem is the key. We chose to stop dumping tons of money into those patch jobs and get to the root cause of the problems at the "cellular" level and it saved us much money and problems in the long run. There's a reason these companies continue to market these magic pills and quick fixes.....because many fools continue to buy into them for short term satisfaction. I'm no different, I was braindead like the rest for sure. Glad I woke up!
Jul 22, 2009 at 5:51 a.m.
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Another treatment for hair loss came about just a few years ago and was sold as
<a href="http://www.onlineclinic.co.uk/propecia.html">Propecia</a> by Merck. This treatment for hair loss is still available and has shown great results. The success rate of Propecia is 90% and it not only stops hair loss but also results in hair re-growth in many cases.
Many men worldwide take Propecia to stop their hair loss and call it a magic pill. However, it is no magic pill but just a medication, which was originally developed for prostate cancer. However, a rare side effect of this medication was growth in visible hair and hence a low dosage form of finasteride (active ingredient of Propecia) was set under trials for hair loss.
Jul 21, 2009 at 3:45 p.m.
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serendipitous, I was thinking the same thing. LOL
Jul 21, 2009 at 2:57 p.m.
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We just had to put our family dog down after years of battling allergies. We tried dipping, pills, powders, lotions..everything you can think of! The best thing we ever did was switch her food over to a new brand through the advice of a friend and it did wonders! Not only that, her quality of life went up. The special foods that the vets recommend are a waste of money in my opinion. There's a much more economic way and it works. Along with that, antioxidants are key in battling those allergies as well. Not just in dogs, but humans as well.
Jul 21, 2009 at 2:42 p.m.
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Lovemygoldens:
I agree with your statement on pets are more enjoyable than people at times. My yellow lab is always willing to walk, play and always at the door when I come home. Days when I'm having a bad day, the dog knows and does his best to cheer me upn ie bring a toy so we both play.
Jul 21, 2009 at 2:21 p.m.
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Actually, LostCity, are you my neighbor? You leave your dog outside in the pouring rain, sweltering heat, bitter cold, tied to the porch on a 3 ft chain with no water nearby? I've called the cops and the humane society about you quite a few times. Yup, I'll be willing to bet that's you. Got a dog because you thought it was a cute little hunting dog, but when you didn't spend enough time with it, you threw it away just to let it suffer.
Jul 21, 2009 at 12:14 p.m.
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I have a golden and she is allergic to fleas. She has been driving me crazy with the scratching and licking. I tried the cortizone and benedryl. Works like a charm!!!! Great article.
Jul 21, 2009 at 12:10 p.m.
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Lovemygoldens,
I agree with you.
I'm not going to suffer so there's no reason my Miniature Pinscher should,either.
Jul 21, 2009 at 10:57 a.m.
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lol hometown_girl
Jul 21, 2009 at 10:37 a.m.
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I'll second the need to treat pets with allergies. One of my cats has allergies and, if untreated, he sneezes giant globs of snot all over the walls. It's worth the vet bill to not have booger-walls!
Jul 21, 2009 at 9:51 a.m.
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If anything, animals that receive "luxury" treatment help keep vet bills lower for the rest.
Jul 21, 2009 at 9:45 a.m.
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Amen lovemygoldens. :)
Jul 21, 2009 at 9:05 a.m.
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Lost-city, people like you are the reason why I like my dogs more than I like most people.
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:54 a.m.
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My dog has allergies and he does keep me awake with itching and licking. Lost_City I can lend him to you for a night so you could get an idea of how frustrating this can be. I still wouldn't trade him for the world however, he is one of my best purchases. :)
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:32 a.m.
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Lostcity; do you have any pets? My kid is my yellow lab. Over the past 5 years I now have understand why they call dogs "mans best friend". I have paid for vet bills that have been high. Same would be if you went to doctor without insurance. Having pets, for me has been a great experience.
Jul 21, 2009 at 7:30 a.m.
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We already knew the sex of the dog from the article. Her name is Daisy and she is 10 years old.
Jul 20, 2009 at 9:55 p.m.
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Lost: you are truly lost. You don't have or never had any pets have you? Then you wouldn't understand.
Go find another story to comment on.
Jul 20, 2009 at 8:51 p.m.
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And people wonder why vet bills are so high. These are just animals, so what if it has allergies it will be fine without seeing a vet. Instead the owners should spend their money and get some therapy!!!
Jul 20, 2009 at 4:08 p.m.
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Well, gee, give them more than three minutes.
Jul 20, 2009 at 4:03 p.m.
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I'm surprised the same people that complained about the pregnant woman's belly aren't complaining about the picture of the vet looking at the dog's belly.
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